


Dirty Secret

by DailyLife



Category: Law and Order: SVU
Genre: Domesticity, Fights, Gen, Multi, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-21
Updated: 2015-04-21
Packaged: 2018-03-25 01:40:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3791842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DailyLife/pseuds/DailyLife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dirty secrets. Everyone has them, especially in this squad.</p><p>Rafael's dirty secret? He was one of the few people who got..</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dirty Secret

**Author's Note:**

> warning: crappy fic about barba, implied Barson, implied Barisi

Dirty secrets. Everyone has them, especially in this squad.

Rafael's dirty secret? He was one of the few people who got a 1st place honor more than twice in the Rolex Grand Pre. The reason why nobody found out that he jumped, was because nobody in the squad was interested in or even followed the sport. And for that he was grateful. 

Only when a victim had ties to the center where Rafael rode, anyone got to have have any knowledge about his dirty little secret.

Olivia, Amanda and Fin had just got out there, and with an extra person it would help to go there due to the potential of getting lost, the suspects record and ability to run. They all stepped out of the car and their sense were immediately invited with the smell of horse and manure.

Fin sighed "Smells better than some petting zoos in the Bronx."

Amanda agreed with him and looked up at the main building as they walked towards it "Back home they always said if you rode english you were a sissy."

"English?" Fin asked Amanda, giving her a very confused look, as Olivia opened the doors to the main office and they all walked in.

"It's a style of horseback riding. That's why this place is called Marbury English Equestrian Center." Amanda replied and Fin nodded as Olivia showed her badge asking where they could find Max Wilmington.

Now in the foyer of the main office had tons of trophies and pictures of horses, riders, basically everything. 3 of Rafael's national trophies were on display along with a picture of him in Rolex Grand Pre receiving the second 1st place honor, not Liv, or Amanda or Fin noticed this.

A secretary showed them where he would be, which was Arena 1B and told them that Max was in the middle of a lesson so he may not hear them walk in to the arena. The secretary also warned them about untacked horses tied up in the shoot that they would have to go through to get to them.

•••

Max didn't run this time and actually asked them to speak in a more private room which unfortunately for them was a tacking room. 

When they entered the tacking room that had a horse already half tacked hooked onto the tacking stall beams. The small male that was tacking up the large horse, looked at Max, asked him a question quietly and Max nodded, the assistant scurried off past Olivia, Amanda and Fin.

After they asked Max his questions about the victim, he apologized and adjusted the saddle pad. "Sorry, he was tacking up Barba's horse for a pre run before the next Rolex Grand Pre next week"

"Barba? As in ADA Rafael Barba?" Olivia asked in confusion.

"Yes.. I thought you were Manhattan Special Victims? He always talks about them like family so I just.." Max replied even more confused than Fin at the moment but moved to pick up a saddle with a small gold plate on it, placing it over the horses back and on top of the saddle pad.

"Oh well we didn't know Barba worked with horses.. He's always doing overtime at the office.." Amanda's statement was cut off when Barba entered the room, fixing his leather gloves and complaining about green horse dewormer on his breeches. 

Rafael looked up to see half of his SVU squad looking at him dumbfoundedly with his friend Max also confused. 'Oh shit' Rafael thought before anyone said anything into the awkward moment. 

"Hello Liv, Amanda, Fin" Rafael said and he nodded to him like he usually did. He knew he was going to be so late to the pre run.

"Hey Barba didn't knew you rode" Amanda said with the complete confidence that made Rafael squirm inside although Rafael would never show it.

"I didn't think it was a important detail of my personal life that I needed to share." Rafael replied with his usual wit, hoping to cover the sense of surprise that they had put into him. He looked to Max who in turn shrugged, unhooked Barba's horse, who's name was Salvation, from the beams, and then clipped on the split reins.

As Olivia checked out Barba's wardrobe of an white polo shirt, tight tan breeches, a dark custom helmet and a pair on boots that looked really uncomfortable, Max lead the slightly green horse between the slightly feuding people out the door to fix the girth on the saddle.

"Well uh I'm going to go to the arena and figure out why Salvation is spooking at 4'6 but not 5'2" Rafael said quickly and exited the room, finding Salvation, mounting and then riding to a arena out of sight.

"I thought he was from the Bronx?" Amanda said and looked to Olivia who shrugged.

"Harvard probably started this" Olivia responded and looked at Fin who was giving her a look that she knew well "We can stay and watch Barba until Nick calls us with more info."

Amanda smiled and they made their way to the Arena that Barba had entered.

•••

Rafael spoke out loud when he was working with any of his horses and alone, today was no different. And he thought he was alone so spoke pretty loudly some simple commands that even Amanda didn't understand. The course in the arena had been set up to provoke Salvation so Rafael prepared for a refusal or a bucking.

"Outside leg switch"  
"Trot move into a canter"  
"6 strides"  
"5"  
"4"  
"3"  
"2"  
".."

He didn't say anything as he went over the 5'2 jump, moving his body forward into the correct eq, before he had fallen off when he had spoken and that was not a fun fall.

The detectives watched in amazement as Barba worked his way around course, but when he came up to his last jump the horse refused, reared and Barba fell. He hit the ground with an oomph. The horse made a neighing sound and went back to all fours, he looked like he was going to run but didn't, staying near Rafael who groaned as he sat up.

Rafael looked up from his position on the ground, which was sitting up in front of the jump that seemed to tower over him where he was covered in the dirt/sand mix of the turf and saw the detectives watched him like hawks, or maybe the term was eagle,as they whispered between themselves to see if the wanted to help him or not. It didn't matter, he had to check Salvation to see if he was in pain, that's why he refused or just to see if he was being the green horse he was a year ago when Barba bought him.

This was going to be a long day.

•••

After that day Barba never heard the last of it. Horse jokes from ex western riders bullying him into walking away, even in his own office it never seemed to go away. But the day before he went to the Rolex Grand Pre in New Jersey, he was wished luck by the judge in a case he was working and then Olivia brought him a cupcake while Amanda brought a horse shoe with the joke 'no it didn't come off of someone in the yard'. 

His every uneducated about the sport squad members showed up to the show and brought a sign with the quote 'Barba's got this in the bag' written in scrawly letters- presumably Carisi's. The gesture was nice but very unneeded and didn't help calm his nerves down at all. 

Salvation was still fresh but also still slightly green on the warm up arena so this was going to all come down to Salvation wanting to go or not.

Because this was the last round of the show, everything counted. 

•••

Barba took a deep breath and made sure the was alined, counting the strides in his head as they approached their last jump. 

Salvation took his last stride before the jump, Barba let out the breath and shifted his body into the correct Eq as Salvation made the jump. Once Salvation landed, Barba leaned forwards and hugged his neck, squeezing his eyes tight as he felt tears coming on. With no faults that round and the time being a record, he had won. He had won once again.

•••

Once he had exited the arena his shit eating smile grew bigger and it wasn't because of the cameras, it wasn't because he had broken another record, yet about his overly excited squad members former and present, came rushing towards him as they spotted him. Barba dismounted and handed his reins and gloves to his show assistant, before being attacked by Liv, Amanda, Fin and Carisi while the DA and Cragen stood back a little. Then he saw the arena manager walking towards them, his show assistant get help attaching the ribbons on the halter and placing the roses on Salvations shoulders.

Rafael humbly shook hands and hugged the people who had came out to see him ride. "You really did it Barba" Carisi said as he stood a few feet away from him. Rafael turned towards him and nodded.

"You didn't believe in the almighty Rafael Barba? Lawyer by day, Rolex Grand Pre winner by any other time of the day." Olivia asked Carisi almost, just almost sarcasticly. 

"Really Olivia? Almighty?" Barba asked Liv as the show assistant led Salvation back over the the newly formed group around Barba. 

Carisi looked from Salvation to Rafael and smirked once more "Your a little small for the sport aren't you?"

Barba only rolled his eyes and gave a side glance to him as he took back the reins from the show assistant allowing a second before mounting to allow Amanda, Olivia to also give Carisi a look before gently patting Salvations neck and exposed chest.

Because he was in a good mood he decided to asked them "Everyone but Carisi can join me to take the official picture for the center and the media."

Cragen and Munch laughed hard at that as Carisi gave everyone a glare, especially Barba.

 

And that was Barba's dirty little secret


End file.
